Salt-harvesting machine



G. ALAICHER. SMT HARVESTING MACHINE. APPLICATION H'LED'AUG. 9-, 19.18.

Patented May 17, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

G. A. AICHER.

SALT HARVESTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUGQQ. 191s.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR Patelited May 17, 1921.

By /6 v6r1.

G. A. AICHER. SALT HARVESTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mso mm. 1912.

Patented May 17, 1921.

- 4SHEETS$HEET 4.

IN V EN TOR -m nd? 6 I i /IiTORNE To all whom itmay concern:

QUNITELD ESTATES PM :gee

eus rev cnnn or sAN rRANcIsco; CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro rmrm septa coMrANy, OF selvrnencisco,cemr'oimrg I .seL'rr-nelwnsmme iyrec imm Be it'known. that I, GUsr y ,AIAIO R, citizen ofthelUnited' States,.residing at San Ere' c l b; i th c un y qfqs n F a c sc Stateof California, have invented a new and useful S alt-Harjesting Machiney of which the following aspecification, in such full I and'lclear. terms as will enablefthose '1 skilledin the art to'construct-land use the e'm a A This invention relatesto a salt harvesting machine, and its objectris to'provide a 111a? a chine capable of harvestinga layer Qtsalt from Qa salt bed either With the bed covered,

with Water or after' th e Water has been drained therefrom a suitable barge being provided to preventthewater from having 7 access to the operating machinery.

An object of the invention is to provide means Wherebythebak'es of salt cut will be delivered up a suitable chute and from there onto a suitable carrier to be dischargedinto Wagons or cars f or collectingthe salt.

Other objects of the invention ap pear-asthe description proceeds.

Ankelnbod rnent of the lnyentlon s shown in the draw ngsin wh ch the same reference numeral isfl applied to .the". same portion l throughout, but 'a n a'ware that there may be modifications thereof v '7 Figure l is a'plen iew :of thecomplete apparatus, I y

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the saltharvesting machinelooking from theside carrye- Ql tting savy, p 7

- gis end elevation of th l harveste ,v I V V "Fig.4is a jplan View of the chute indicating its lining andflshowing', the vmeans for holding its in; position,

'Fig. 5 is as de elevation .one a slightly larger scale than'Eig 2, and shoWing-cerfi l de ails ofconstruction, a portionofthe apparatus being broken. away for purposes of illusti ation; t I y -F"g. 6 is a side'jeleyation ofthe slidable bearing'jor raisingjand lowering the barge i with respect toithe axle supporting it, a:

c specifi catidn of LettersrPatent.

Ap li n fi ed; Ae fi 1 ieeri es 249,213

Fig a planyiev v of the which 7 Fig.8 is a side .e'leifation of ;the guide shown in Fig. 7.

The p numeralfl indicates aasuitable fiat;

bottomed bargewhich isordinarily supported, by e -2 n lr Ql I 2 y c in-. nected with afixed axle hpusingA, and by a steering wh l 1 1 i t i n .e f x fi tekst e the ap r tu i n fl em fli eqtien, th tiller 7 being usedto operate the steering Wheel; v Any suitabletypleTof engine". 8; i's

moiliited in the barge W i ch engine ms Ia parat-us. The clutch and theifiyiwheelfis it operated by means of. a jlever l ft known manner, and theshaft 11 carr es a gear 15Iyyh1ch maybejengaged or d sengaged With the sliding.clutchcollar' 16,\yihichlatdrive the Will.

ter is ino edby eaneof, the lever117; to

driven with the steering-Wheelinltheli'earinthe direction indicated by l the Qarr W pn Fig. 1.

' Atthesideof theibi f gezthere isaheayy v U-shaped frame '18 through which support passes ani'eXtePsion 19 [of the shaftLdi'iVing the wheel 2 and pa which isvjourn aled a sprocket wh'eelQO, a saw 21,,b'eingsecured on side of 'samebThe sprocket wheel f20 is driven by meanslof a chainf22 -fl'oin na sprocket, gear 23 on a shaft 24.. The sha 'ftfl l is carried by two journaljbe arings254and 26.,and it has a beveleg ear 27 on one endjin mesh'wlth the beveljgear 28 ,011. the 'side of the gear 29 on theshaftfiof'f U 1- The shaft 30-is1nountedin two bearings 31 and 32 and the gears 2 8 and 29 whichare i rigidly connected together are free totur'n thereon sothatyyhile the sawfis .driven in the directio'nof the arrow noted on, Fig; :2;

'95 the shaft 30 willvbe;soft 'irned astddrivethe I shaft 33 through the gears 34, 35 in the proper direction to cause the conveyer 36 to assist in working the salt blocks up the chute 37.

The chute 37 has a wire glass lining '49 and a steelshoe 50 to enable it to stand the necessary wear of the blocks of. salt.

The shoe is pulled forward by means of two links 51, 52 which have'suitable bearing collars 53, 54 surrounding the axle 19, and it is adjusted by means of the lever 55 carried' on' the upper surface of the barge 1,

said lever having a suitable latch 56, Fig. 5

of the drawings, which engages teeth in a rack segment 57, resting on the upper surface of the barge 1. The lever 55 is carried by a shaft 58 journaled intwo boxes 59, 60. This shaft 58 is provided with two arms 61, 62 which are in turn connected by means of two links 63, 64, Figs. 4 and 5, to'the shaft 65 below the chute 37 ,and with which the links51, 52 are connected. The springs in the slotted boxes 43, 44enabling' a slight adjustmentof thechute to be'made. An intermediate gear 66 connects the two gears 15 and 29 and enables the proper gear ratio to be used. Apost 68 and suitableframework 69v supports a belt 170, and a pulley 71 on the shaft 30 enables the belt 70 to be driven, a pulley 72 and rope drive 73 being used to drive the belt 70 so that the blocks of salt will be delivered in a car illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 at the side of the salt cutting apparatus. 3

In order to permit relative adjustment of the barge land axially supporting wheels 2 and 3 and to prevent the water from enter I ing the barge owing to different depths of water over the bed of salt, substantially 'U- shaped boxes 80 are set in opposite sides of thebarge 1, and these boxes are vertically slotted to receive vertically adjustable flanged bearings 81 with which the ends of the shaft housing are connected, and said flanged boxes are raised and lowered to ob tain the proper relative adjustment between I the wheels supporting'axle and the barge '1 by means of screws 82 which have heavy washers 83 on their lower ends and which engage lugs 84", '85 'on said flanged boxes, a bar 86 bolted to the edge of the barge is provided with a threaded opening within which-one of said screws 82 operates. The

relative adjustmentof screws 82 and bar 86 forming the means whereby the adjustment of axle and barge is carried out.

In operation, the engine is started and the barge is driven over the surface of the water or over the bed of salt in the direction indicated by the arrow on Figs. 1 and 2. At the same time, the saw is rotated at amore considerable rate of speed than the wheels supporting the barge, and as the salt iscut it is pushed up the chute 37 and lands upon the carrier 70, which discharges it into a wagon or car movingalong the side of the salt cutting machine.

. The adjusting screws 18 and- '18""' associated with the opposite ends of the plate 18 andcarried by the frame 1 provide an adjustment for said plate 18 at suchtime as the bearings 81 are raised or lowered.

. I Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States-is as follows, express reservation being'ma'de of per missible'modifications. r j

1. A salt harvesting -machine "comprising a driving mechanism, a pair of supporting wheels therefor, a circular saw disposed at he outer side of one of said wheels forc ut ting the salt bed, means to rotate said saw, a chute at the side ofthe sawfor picklng up the salt blocks, and a carrier for moving the salt blocks transversely ofthe machine tofa 7 suitable point of discharge. 3

2. A salt harvesting machine comprising a driving mechanism, 7 a wheeled support therefor, means to steer the support,;afcircular saw at the outer side of one of said wheels for cutting the saltfmeans to rotate said saw, a chute atthe side of. the saw for pickingup the blocks of salt cut, and means to adjustthe elevation of the lower end of said chute.

3. A salt harvesting niachinecomprising a driving mechanism, a wheeled support therefor, a circular saw exteriorly of the outer face of one wheel for cutting the salt bed, means to rotate said saw, achute for I picking up the blocks of salt cut, means to steer the machine, and mechanical means for assisting the salt blocks in traveling up the chute.

4. A salt'harvesting machine comprising A a driving mechanism, awheeled support therefor, a circular saw exteri'orly of the outer face of one of said supporting wheels for cutting the salt bed, a chuteat the outer side of the saw for elevating the blocks of 5. A salt harvesting machine comprising a barge having a steering wheel and a pair of wheels vertically adjustable with respect thereto, a circular saw carried in line with the axes of the latter wheels and positioned exteriorly of the outer face of one of said Wheels of said pair for cutting the salt bed, and a chute adjacent the saw by Which the blocks of salt travel to be collected.

therefor, a rotary cutter positioned at the outer side of one of said wheels for cutting the salt bed, means foroperating said cutter, 10 anda chute adjacent the cutter for picking up the blocks of salt.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27 day of June, A. D. 1918.

GUSTAV A. AIGHER.

Witnessz W. T. Hnss. 

